Gillette On Hillsborough

01 August 2015

The Mermaid Pool has been an attraction at Duke Farms for more than a century. Part of J. B. Duke's interconnected lake system, water flows down from the Duke Reservoir and under West Way to fill the pool, which at one time featured six smaller water spouts surrounding a large central fountain.

Mermaid Pool at Duke's Park, postcard circa 1915

Water then flows through the watercourse pictured in the postcard above and under the bridge where a young Doris Duke can be seen admiring her reflection, eventually cascading down into Vista Lake.

Doris Duke at the Mermaid Pool, circa 1922

Today the well-kept Mermaid Pool lawn is a favorite picnic spot.

Mermaid Pool at Duke Farms, April 2015

Although the smaller fountains are no longer present, I am happy to report that the central fountain is once again operational! See for yourself below.

25 July 2015

Old postcards are not only a great resource for discovering what Duke Farms looked like a century ago, but can also reveal long forgotten names of lanes, and bridges, and bodies of water at J.B. Duke's "Duke's Park".

Lover's Lane at Duke's Park, postcard circa 1907

I previously took note of "Hoo Doo Bridge" on Habitat Lane - but a study of the postcards in my personal collection provides us with "Swan Falls", "Woodville Falls", "Silver Cascades", "Shady Nook Drive", "Willow Lake", and other disused monikers. This week, we have the practically unchanged view facing west on Overlook Way, formerly named "Lover's Lane" - at least at the time the original postcard view was printed in 1907.

18 July 2015

Although the connected lake system at Duke Farms isn't functioning today as it did over 100 years ago when first conceived and built by James B. Duke, the Great Falls are operational and flow at least a couple of times each day.

11 July 2015

I am not sure what the stone bridge to the east of the Farm Barn at Duke Farms is called, but I'm calling it the Conservation Lane Bridge.

Conservation Lane Bridge, postcard circa 1905

Yes, this is the first photo in this series where I've been foiled by sticking to my game plan of not venturing off the paths and into the brush to get the shot. So this one is from a different angle, but you get the idea.

Conservation Lane Bridge at Duke Farms April 2015

The bridge is still in very good condition well over a century since its construction - still, I wish Duke Farms would do more to preserve these beautiful structures.

04 July 2015

Fountains of all kinds were a major attraction at Duke Farms a century ago when the Hillsborough, New Jersey estate of tobacco tycoon James B. Duke was still popularly known as Duke's Park. So important were the water displays that Duke wouldn't even consider having the grounds open to the public unless all of the fountains and falls were operational.

Vista Lake Fountains, postcard circa 1915

It was eventually decided that the park would only be open to the public on Tuesdays and Fridays. The stated reason for the reduction was the unruly behavior of some guests, but it was also noted that the fountains would only be active while the park was open - no doubt saving a great deal of money.

New Brunswick Daily Home News, May 31, 1910

New Brunswick Daily Home News, September 19, 1910

If you take a walk on Fox Hollow Lane along the lower drive around Vista Lake you may still imagine the sight of the magnificent fountains with the overflow cascading down over the stone embankment. No wonder the editor of the New Brunswick Daily Home News decried the lack of access to the working people of central New Jersey!

The view from Fox Hollow Lane across Vista Lake at Duke Farms, April 2015

The lower drive around the lake must have been a favorite of James B. Duke and his wife Nanaline. They can be seen alighting from their coach near the underpass of the bridge in the second scene shown in the excerpts of Doris Duke's home movies. Take a look.

20 June 2015

Hoo Doo? Who knew? The bridge on Habitiat Lane over the small creek is Hoo Doo Bridge - at least according to the circa 1906 postcard below. You can clearly see from the postcard how the estate was carefully landscaped at one time, and how much of it was left to grow in naturally over the years.

16 June 2015

Today, June 16, 2015, marks the 100th anniversary of what is likely the most lavish event ever hosted at Duke Farms in Hillsborough, New Jersey. The occasion was the wedding of J.B. Duke's favorite niece, Mary L. Duke, to Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr. of Philadelphia. As most contemporary newspaper accounts noted, the marriage completed a unique union between two great families of New York and Philadelphia society, as the bride's brother was wedded to the groom's sister two months previously.

Mary L. Duke and A.J. Drexel Biddle. Jr. and their attendants in front of the residence at Duke Farms, June 16, 1915

To accommodate the 600 attendees, a special platform topped with a spectacular blue and white awning was built along the South Branch Railroad which transected the Duke Estate. Guests arriving from New York and Philadelphia on private rail cars were dispatched through Somerville and right to the platform in the heart of Duke Farms, where automobiles were waiting to take them to Duke's country manor at the northern end of the property.

Duke-Biddle wedding invitation, 1915

J.B. Duke spared no expense getting his estate ready for the grand occasion. It was said that he spent two weeks personally overseeing every aspect of the preparations.

Postcard view of the Duke residence circa 1913

The ceremony, performed by Bishop Darlington, began at 5 p.m. in the Palm Room. This is how it was described by The New York Times:

The ceremony was performed in the palm room, which had a vaulted ceiling and a mezzanine gallery. This room, in the centre of the house, with a wide entrance hall leading to the porte cochere, was transformed into a chapel of flowers. The multi-paned windows, soft lights, and the tones of an organ gave the place the atmosphere of a chapel in the woods, for the boughs of the trees waved in the breeze close to the open windows, and from afar was heard the splash of many fountains.

An aisle was formed with high gilt standards, topped with great masses of peonies of roses, and connected with white satin ribbons. The bridal party, entering from the front entrance, passed up the aisle to a chancel of flowers, while the guests stood grouped close together on either side. [I should think so, I have been in those rooms, and they don't hold 600!] In fact, the capacity of the palm room was over-taxed, and there were guests in the mezzanine gallery. Outside the high windows, looking down from the second-story roof, were assembled many of the servants and employees on the estate.

Wow!

The Palm Room at the Duke residence in Hillsborough, New Jersey, from a newspaper story circa 1911

Newspaper stories were sure to describe the gowns, jewels, and flowers worn and carried by the wedding party and their guests. Suffice it to say that they are exactly what you would expect from a wedding where the gifts to the bride amounted to about $7 million in 2015 dollars, and Mr. Drexel Biddle, Sr. presented Mr. Drexel Biddle, Jr. a check for $200,000 (about $4.5 million today).

After the ceremony, guests adjourned to the lawn to congratulate the newlyweds and partake in refreshments. Special trains for New York and Philadelphia departed at 7:30, but many of the younger guests remained, dancing and partying as the orchestra played into the evening.

Doris Duke, not yet three years old, performed her flower girl duties in a white lace frock with a pink sash.

Pure conjecture on my part, but the Biddle-Duke wedding of 1915 may have been something of a test run for the event that was sure to have eclipsed it in every way - the eventual wedding of J.B. Duke's daughter Doris. The heiress who served as flower-girl for her older cousin was not yet three in 1915, and tragically was just twelve when her father died in 1925.

15 June 2015

Today, June 15, 2015, marks the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede, England. King John agreed that no man, not even the king, was above the law. The ideas about liberty in this document are what separate English-speaking people from the rest of the world, and from where American Exceptionalism is ultimately derived.

The Magna Carta is presented to King John at Runnymede, June 15, 2015

Now that we are almost as removed from the 1620 Mayflower Pilgrims as they were from the English barons who confronted King John, let's remember that unlike the tagline of "No More Kings" - the Schoolhouse Rock song from our Saturday-morning youth - "we're going to elect a president, he's going to do what the people say", the expulsion of the king and the election of a president is not what protects the people from tyranny.

Colonists lived in America for 150 years as Englishmen with the rights, privileges, and liberty - even under the sovereign - as other Englishmen. When new rules were made for them, and they found they did not enjoy the same representation as their forebears across the pond, they reacted to the tyranny, and the revolution was begun.

Two decades later, the Constitution - an improvement on the Magna Carta as it guarantees the liberty of all citizens, not just feudal barons - was adopted. The checks and balances therein were acknowledgements by the founders that all governments, even duly elected ones, could become tyrannical over time.

We see this around the world all the time when despotic rulers tout their "free elections", with no constitution guaranteeing any real freedoms at all!

On this day, we should look to our Constitution's Ninth Amendment, and remember the "other" rights and the Magna Carta:

"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

About the Author

Greg is a longtime New Jersey resident and has lived in Hillsborough since 1993. He was elected to the Hillsborough Township Board of Education in 2007 and also serves as chair of the Historic Preservation Commission. He has also served on the Hillsborough-Millstone Municipal Allianceand as chair of the Cultural Arts Commission. Greg and his wife, Patty, have also served as co-chairmen of "Central New Jersey Walk Now for Autism", the local chapter of the international research and awareness organization Autism Speaks.
A music major at New York University, Greg spent most of his career in the Entertainment Division of the Six Flags Corporation where he was primarily responsible for writing and producing live educational assembly programs for New Jersey school children. Since 2000, he has been a full-time stay-at-home dad, concentrating on raising his two children, and on community service.
Besides his other activities, Greg writes The View From Hillsborough blog for MyCentralJersey.com, which has also been featured over 175 times in The Courier News.
Greg's other interests include music, reading, photography, history, and genealogy.